Giving up the ciggies

[Broken Bones89]

I want to quit smoking but I don't want to have to fork out for patches or medication, Does any one know of any natural cheap methods of giving up the darbs?
I thoroughly enjoy my cigs so the main reason I want to quit is to save money and because it's apparently bad for me. Any ideas?

 

[Staunch]

I want to quit smoking but I don't want to have to fork out for patches or medication, Does any one know of any natural cheap methods of giving up the darbs?
I thoroughly enjoy my cigs so the main reason I want to quit is to save money and because it's apparently bad for me. Any ideas?

First up I don't smoke so I have no idea if this actually works, only something I've heard.
As smoking is a physical as well as chemical addiction, it can be quite hard to break. The whole process of smoking; rolling (if you do), lighting and just even holding the dart can be just as much a part of the addiction as the nicotine as your body associates these actions with the feeling that comes from smoking.
Once you stop, you get cravings from the lack of nicotine and while you can't replace that chemically, you can do something do distract from the physical (even if it's only subconscious) addiction. Something like doing 5-10 push ups/sit ups/etc ever time you feel like a cig will not only distract you from the craving but over time you'll form a much more beneficial habit.
Again, only something I've read/heard but it makes sense to me.

 

[SaabG]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lMDfyF1VF6o

 

[Registered Nutcase]

Whatever you pay in smokes, champex is cheaper. I wont give you the speal about it all. But it is a doctor prescribe medication and it works! I paid $30 for a month supply.

It does break both the physical and mental side of smoking.

 

[harmonix1234]

Only way I could do it was cold turkey combined with no socialising with any smokers for about a month. And no drinking.
I also had a reward kitty put my weekly ciggi budget of about $50 into a bike savings box. After a few months I stopped the bike savings thing, but by then I was all good.

I have quit on and off for years with periods of a year or two on or off.
I always take up smoking again when I start drinking or when I work with a lot of smokers and start having the odd one at lunch time.

So, now I don't drink either. If I have a beer I want a smoke, so I just don't drink any more. Which I do miss. But everyone is different.

So cold turkey, don't hang out at the pub, and reward yourself.

Good luck with it mate. Just smash the f*ckin goal and set a date. Smoke like a demon up until that date and enjoy it. Then just cut them off.

 

[Broken Bones89]

Whatever you pay in smokes, champex is cheaper. I wont give you the speal about it all. But it is a doctor prescribe medication and it works! I paid $30 for a month supply.

It does break both the physical and mental side of smoking.

I have tried Chameix before but it gave me horrendous headaches and made me feel sick which is why I wanted to try something natural.

 

[Broken Bones89]

Only way I could do it was cold turkey combined with no socialising with any smokers for about a month. And no drinking.
I also had a reward kitty put my weekly ciggi budget of about $50 into a bike savings box. After a few months I stopped the bike savings thing, but by then I was all good.

I have quit on and off for years with periods of a year or two on or off.
I always take up smoking again when I start drinking or when I work with a lot of smokers and start having the odd one at lunch time.

So, now I don't drink either. If I have a beer I want a smoke, so I just don't drink any more. Which I do miss. But everyone is different.

So cold turkey, don't hang out at the pub, and reward yourself.

Good luck with it mate. Just smash the f*ckin goal and set a date. Smoke like a demon up until that date and enjoy it. Then just cut them off.

I'm the same. I go alright for a week or two then I have a beer, after that it's straight down to the smoke shop so I too have given up drinking. If I can go about my life and only have a couple smokes when I get on it I'll be happy but first I need to get in to a non smoking routine.
The $60/week smoke budget is definitely going towards a new bike, on top of the hundy a week I'm already putting away I should have enough to either buy a dirt bike or build my dream DH bike by the end of the year. My goal date is this Sunday when I move back home which is a non smoking house, I'll also be working for Mums boss who are also non smokers so I think I'm in with a fighting chance this time.

 

[HR7]

I started smoking at 10. Smoked for 26 years. It's all I knew, could barely remember my life before smoking.

Tried patches, Champix etc......FAILED.

I was spending over $100 a week on smokes, so I thought I'd buy a new car on finance for roughly the same amount each week. Coz I'm dirt poor to start with, if I didn't give up smoking, my new car would get repossessed.

It's 2 years and 18 days later and I haven't had a smoke since the day I picked up the car from the dealer.

 

[Broken Bones89]

I started smoking at 10. Smoked for 26 years. It's all I knew, could barely remember my life before smoking.

Tried patches, Champix etc......FAILED.

I was spending over $100 a week on smokes, so I thought I'd buy a new car on finance for roughly the same amount each week. Coz I'm dirt poor to start with, if I didn't give up smoking, my new car would get repossessed.

It's 2 years and 18 days later and I haven't had a smoke since the day I picked up the car from the dealer.

That would have to be the craziest quit smoking scheme I've ever heard but it makes quite a bit of sense. You've got something to show for your hard earned now.

 

[Sic]

Honestly the trick is you have to want to quit. Not quit because you think you should because you know its bad you just have to want it to be gone.

As for coping tricks, drink lots of water, cut back on alcohol and caffeine, and try and avoid your social triggers that are related to smoking. Maybe dont go out for a bit....

Also accept the reality that you may fail. It took me a heap of times to quit, I would go without smoking for big periods of time (a whole year once) and then start up again until I was finally ready to give them the boot. So if you do have a few smokes dont be too hard on yourself just get back to quitting.

Tell your friends and family that you're trying to quit as well, they will help you and you will feel guilty if you smoke in front of them once you tell them about your plans to stop.

Nicotine patches do help with craving but the reality is its a crutch, just stop, the cravings only last a few minutes, drink some water go for a walk. Plan a day to not smoke and stick to it, remove any smokes from your house, tell your smoker mates not to give you any and try and make it a few days before you get paid (you'll have less cash...) the tips about exercise work to.

Before you know it you'll be fitter, richer and smell way better because as an ex smoker I can tell you that smokers stink. Im sure every ex smoker says it but its really worth the short term pain to quit.

 

[rone]

Cold turkey and fiscal reward are the go. Patches /gum and the like may work for some, but they gave me nausea and didn't help. Nicotine takes about three days to leave the system, after that the craving is in your head*.

I was a horrible c**t for 3-4 days after giving up (ask my wife) but that 3 day period is the big hump, and it does get easier after that. It's been nearly seven years since my last ciggy, after smoking Marlboro reds for nearly 19 years and I don't crave them at all now, even to the point of being around smokers -now I just think they smell bad.

Concentrate on the positives - you'll ride longer and harder, you'll feel better and the money you save will add up seriously quickly.

*I assume this to be true. It could be utter bollocks, but it is a good point of focus and you really do feel different if you can clear the three days.

 

[Broken Bones89]

Lots of inspirational stoies have been told, thanks for the advice guys.

My plan is to give up the darbs and start a training diary on monday full of running and pushups. I want to be able to run 10km continuously within the next six months. I do enjoy smoking but I also really want to give it away. Hopefully this is my year.

 

[rone]

I also heard that substituting cigarettes with masturbation works, but people looked at me funny outside the pub.

 

[Broken Bones89]

I also heard that substituting cigarettes with masturbation works, but people looked at me funny outside the pub.

Yeah but there's only so much friction burn a man can handle before it starts affecting his capacity to walk/ride....

 

[Hamsta]

EDIT
Before you know it you'll be fitter, richer and smell way better because as an ex smoker I can tell you that smokers stink. Im sure every ex smoker says it but its really worth the short term pain to quit.

I stopped a while back, during 2011 If I recall correctly, after about 4 years as a smoker. I wasn't a heavy smoker, probably 12 per day,and didn't take up the habit until later in life. I didn't notice the impact upon my fitness that much as I was really fit prior to starting and remained very active whilst smoking. The things that drove me to stop was the death of a family friend from smoking related cancer and a request to purchase and carry cigarettes to work for people who had run out of tobacco. The transaction came to about AUD$1200.00 and that felt just plain unequivocally dumb.... people (myself included) paying money to slowly make themselves sick.

As Sic stated, it really is worth the short term pain to quit, however I don't know of any natural remedies. However, I have seen many people using electronic cigarettes as a means to limit the damage that the smoke from traditional cigarettes would do to their respriratory system and to limit the impact upon their cardiovascular fitness. After the initial outlay, these work out considerably cheaper than tobacco. Google is your friend.


More power to you for wanting to stop.

 

[redbruce]

Lots of inspirational stoies have been told, thanks for the advice guys.

My plan is to give up the darbs and start a training diary on monday full of running and pushups. I want to be able to run 10km continuously within the next six months. I do enjoy smoking but I also really want to give it away. Hopefully this is my year.

As others have alluded, you need a really, really strong reason (driver).

For my wife, when we were dating, it came down to "its either the smokes or me- choose". For my sister (and my mother) it was being pregnant (concern for the unborn), for a former running partner (and a fiercely competitive bugger) it was me regularly thrashing him (yeah I did rub his face in it a bit).

For my father in law however, even surviving esophageal cancer (very, very low survival rate and yes alcohol is a significant factor also), the first time, the second time, nor the third time (well almost, he died recently) was a strong enough deterrent to stopping smoking.

Power to you.

 

[wilddemon]

Honestly the trick is you have to want to quit. Not quit because you think you should because you know its bad you just have to want it to be gone.

As for coping tricks, drink lots of water, cut back on alcohol and caffeine, and try and avoid your social triggers that are related to smoking. Maybe dont go out for a bit....

Also accept the reality that you may fail. It took me a heap of times to quit, I would go without smoking for big periods of time (a whole year once) and then start up again until I was finally ready to give them the boot. So if you do have a few smokes dont be too hard on yourself just get back to quitting.

Tell your friends and family that you're trying to quit as well, they will help you and you will feel guilty if you smoke in front of them once you tell them about your plans to stop.

Nicotine patches do help with craving but the reality is its a crutch, just stop, the cravings only last a few minutes, drink some water go for a walk. Plan a day to not smoke and stick to it, remove any smokes from your house, tell your smoker mates not to give you any and try and make it a few days before you get paid (you'll have less cash...) the tips about exercise work to.

Before you know it you'll be fitter, richer and smell way better because as an ex smoker I can tell you that smokers stink. Im sure every ex smoker says it but its really worth the short term pain to quit.

100%. More than anything you have to want to quit. Thats the diff between success and failure. If you weaken and get a pack sure its a failure, but stop telling yourself "last pack", that is smoker talk. A non smoker sees no value in cigarettes; quickly rip and bin them at next moment of strength / clarity.

Lots of inspirational stoies have been told, thanks for the advice guys.

My plan is to give up the darbs and start a training diary on monday full of running and pushups. I want to be able to run 10km continuously within the next six months. I do enjoy smoking but I also really want to give it away. Hopefully this is my year.

Changing your patterns is a good move. When you return to familiar habits (having a beer) expect it to be a challenge but don't push yourself. Have a beer or two and call it quits, your brain will more easily dissociate drinking and smoking.

Good luck and enjoy your refound fitness and health, comrade.

 

[your_neighbour]

10 years on the ciggies, pretty heavy as well, quit in 2005 I think, exercise did save me, really got into running and even joined a gym for about 9 months. Kept telling myself I needed to sweat the poison out of my body. You know when that true moment comes and you have had enough, an awakening!

Have a beer the next day with your mates to celebrate quitting, tackle it head on, grab that pack of Winnies, Stuyvos or B&H and bin em!

Only happy days ahead when you make that decision to quit, Good luck!!

 

[Broken Bones89]

10 years on the ciggies, pretty heavy as well, quit in 2005 I think, exercise did save me, really got into running and even joined a gym for about 9 months. Kept telling myself I needed to sweat the poison out of my body. You know when that true moment comes and you have had enough, an awakening!

Have a beer the next day with your mates to celebrate quitting, tackle it head on, grab that pack of Winnies, Stuyvos or B&H and bin em!

Only happy days ahead when you make that decision to quit, Good luck!!

To be honest going without the booze doesn't worry me in the slightest, I have big plans for this year and I intend to make them happen so if giving up drinking helps me quit smoking and achieve my goals then the beer is gone until I'm confident my affairs are in order.
My mate and I are planning on joining a gym on Monday that has a pool and squash/volleyball courts. Go for a run in the morning, work hard all day, gym and or swim/squash game at night then reap the rewards in six months time. I'm determined to actually get somewhere this year.
Thanks for all the props guys I really appreciate it.

 

[indica]

I want to quit smoking but I don't want to have to fork out for patches or medication, Does any one know of any natural cheap methods of giving up the darbs?

Yep. Stop smoking. I did.